Morphine Sales Lead To Closure Of Pharmacy

June 6, 1986|By Patricia Elich, Staff Writer

Taking advantage of a recent change in the law, U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration officials shut down a Fort Lauderdale pharmacy Thursday, saying the store had sold a woman between $225,000 and $450,000 worth of morphine tablets on phony prescriptions.

DEA agents went to Pharmco Prescriptions Association Inc., 3412 N. Ocean Blvd., to notify the owner, Janice Goodman, and her husband and manager of the business, Larry Goodman, that their pharmacy`s controlled substances registration with the DEA was indefinitely suspended,

Harold Dieter, supervisory investigator for the DEA`s office in Miami, said an audit by the DEA turned up 39 forged prescription orders in the pharmacy`s files. According to Dieter, all were made out to Stephanie George, 32, of Broward County.

The prescriptions were for a total of 45,000 doses of morphine. The street value of one tablet of morphine is between $5 and $10, Dieter said.

George was arrested in December by Broward sheriff`s detectives and later convicted and sentenced to four years in prison for prescription forgery, according to Dieter. Her arrest triggered the DEA`s investigation, he said.

In addition to the 45,000 pills sold to George, the DEA audit disclosed 14,000 doses unaccounted for in the store`s inventory.

Also, Dieter said, the pharmacy had been dispensing prescription drugs to customers for at least three weeks without a licensed pharmacist on the premises.

An investigation of the pharmacy is continuing, Dieter said.

Janice Goodman, contacted at her home Thursday night, said she had no comment on the DEA`s action.

``Everybody will have their day in court,`` she said.

Although no charges have been filed against the Goodmans, the DEA was able to suspend the firm`s registration because of a 1984 change in federal law.

Prior to the change, Dieter said, a pharmacy could be closed only under a few specific circumstances, one of them being a felony conviction against the proprietor.

Now, Dieter said, the pharmacy can be closed once the DEA convinces an administrative judge that the firm presents an immediate hazard to the public.

``Before, you had to wait for a conviction,`` Dieter said. ``It could take several months, during which time they could operate.``

This is the first pharmacy closing in Broward under the law change, Dieter said.

To win back either its DEA registration or its state license, Dieter said, the pharmacy will have to go through a hearings process that could take several months. Until then, he said, a vitamin or decongestant tablet will be the strongest thing the business can sell.